The original Moulton bicycle was launched late in 1962, and was one of the few serious and successful attempts to challenge the conventional diamond frame. It dominated the 1962 Cycle Show, where it made its first public appearance. With its small (16 inch) wheels, suspension, unisex (step through) frame and integral luggage carrying facilities it was unlike anything that had appeared before.

http://www.moultoneers.net/ 

China....sure...a menage-a-trois sounds like fun...

Kona... 'full suspension' is defined by a non-rigid frame geometry at both ends of the bike, and has nothing to do with travel and/or gears....though that particular one was likely to have had an internal hub, probably 3 gears, and somewhat more than 1 inch of travel.

To be accurate, the first mountain bikes as such were specifically fixed frames, ie no suspension at all...

Some people read about history, others lived in it...

Kona..no, again I re-iterate....the number of gears has exactly nothing to do with what is, or is not a full-suspension bike, or a mountain bike.

Stop refering to Manufacturer's BS about what they 'think' a MTB is or was...it bears nothing in reality or in history.

The first coining of the phrase 'mountain bike' was/is most likely an American magazine reporter refering to a bike intended/used [not designed] for off-road cross-country travel.

What bugs the crap out of me, and other historians is the near-sighted's attempt/s to rewrite history, claiming the world was invented/created by one entity over another, usually patriotically-motivated.

Next time you look at a 'Mini' [as in the car] and wonder why/how it managed so many race victories in its time due to its handling capability/nimbleness...ask yourself who designed its suspension system....way back in the '60s....no, not Issigonis....he designed the car...it was Alex Moulton who was the 'wizz' behind suspension technologies....the current Abrams equivalent in the UK still uses his design...[that's a tank, BTW, not a bike].

Traditional [and modern] MTB suspension technology/design originated with motorbike concepts...and many were/are utterly unsuitable to man-powered systems but some designers have hung onto them desperately because they just know no better.

A reality-check [for you] is that I have designed and built full-suspension bikes, and therefore have practical knowledge of their viability.....nearly 40 years of experience specifically with dual-suspension bike systems....very probably longer than anyone even living in the US.

Again I repeat....the phrase/name 'MTB' is American.  The concept of full-suspension bicycle technology is English....Bradford-on-Avon to be precise, circa 1960.

Disk brakes?....Shimano made them in the late sixties [horrible all-steel things].

Hydraulic brakes?  German, though again I had a set by Shimano that predate BMX....would have been used on Dragsters.

The only thing that America can truly claim as leader of in cycling is billetting....good old Magic Motorcycle stuff has gotta be the most expensive junk ever created...made from unobtainium, it seems...[ya lose the plot when you're talking 1000 bucks for a pair of cranks, chainwheels extra]...

I'm quite happy to talk bikes and bike history with the next man, but please get past the stupid 'Made In The USA - Might Is Right' crap and talk sense....

Practical knowledge, eg internal fillet-brazing, frame geometry and suspension methodology....an appreciation of Manganese-Molybdenum-steel [Reynolds 531] and knowledge of historical suspension design in Motorcycles...['springer forks']...and a home-made bike.

The only ready-made component of the frame was the 'unicrown' Chromolly fork, reversed, re-raked and with brazed-in suspension pivots to replace the drop-outs...